Finding Myself
by a Thankful Ghost
Summary: Rose."I slowly opned my eyes and looked into an angel's face, Jamie's face.' Rose was genetically enhanced by her father to get away from earth's invading souls. She has spent two years living in the desert being an animal. Will she ever be human again?
1. The animal I am

**Okay, the beginning is boring but since when in a good book isn't it? Anyway, it may seem a bit confusing but bear with me, at least until when Jamie comes along. This story is based on the book written by Stepheneie Meyer called 'The Host'. This is about Jamie's Love.**

**However, this book may be based on 'The Host' but I own the character Rose and her abilities/the idea of her. **

**Note: There's a picture of a similar looking locket on my profile as well as a physical description of the main character.**

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"_What is it dad? What's going on?" I called franticly at my father. He was rushing around the house grabbing essentials like canned food, flashlights, first aid kits and blankets._

"_We have to hurry! They're coming for us! We have to hurry before-"He broke off when we heard a loud knock on the door. "No! I'm too late!" He called franticly. He zipped up the bag and handed it to me. It was very full and heavy. "Rosalind, it's too late for me. You have to hide and then run, run far away. I can't come with you. They're after me and the 'G.E.H.A'. I can't let them have it so you have to take it. I have to put it in you." His voice was pained and brave._

"_No" I said weakly and strangled. Tears ran silently down my cheeks. He was all I had left._

"_You have to, for me. It is the only way you can escape. Take the jeep and drive it into the desert. After that, get out on foot and run to a hiding place far away from the jeep. Insert the 'G.E.H.A' and wait for it to change you. After that I want you to promise me to take care of yourself. You know what it will do you." He said. The door banged open and I heard men rushing around the house._

"_Go!" he whispered. _

"_I love you daddy. I promise to keep safe and do as I'm told" I whispered my voice breaking at the end. I had to do this last thing for him. _

"_Me to Rose" I turned and kissed him on the cheek. I quickly memorized his face for the last time and turned around to go through the window and jumped on the ground from the second story. I ignored the slight pain in my anckles when they hit the earth. I ran around the house to the garage. I could hear the seekers upstairs finding my dad but no G.E.H.A. and no me. I jumped into the car, picked the keys from my bag, and started the engine. It was a good thing I already knew how to drive. My dad taught me a bit around three months ago. My tires sped across the highway and into the Arizona desert leaving behind the rest of my family and only friend. _

I woke with a gasp. The dream I had was no dream, it was both a nightmare and a memory. It was the last memory of my human life. That was around two years ago. I was eighteen now and I still kept my father's promise.

The sun still hadn't risen over the still and brutal desert. I was lying under a slanted rock that was barely big enough to shelter me from the sun. I decided to close my eyes and think back to what happened after. I started dreaming again.

_I reached my hiding place after running for what seemed like forever from where I dumped the jeep. I sat down in a small cave in the mountain. There was nothing in there, not that I cared. I opened my bag and dumped out the contents._

_There was a hairbrush, a mirror, a strong and short knife, a Swiss army knife, several tins of canned food, three matchboxes, a large folder of documents, two flashlights, twelve extra batteries for the flashlights, a toothbrush, toothpaste, several bottles of water, a picture of me, my mom and my dad together, a compass, a map, a phone, several phone cards, two first aid kits, a radio, my locket from my parents, their wedding rings and an expensive , heavy case that had extra locks on it. I was surprised so much could fit in there. I put everything back in the bag apart from the case, the documents and my locket. I put the locket around my neck. I carefully opened the case and found a needle with lime-green liquid inside of it. I had to do what my father told me to. _

_I took the needle and slowly injected the fluid in my left arm. The pain was almost unbearable. I knew I had to continue though. Once all the green liquid was gone from the needle, I quickly pulled it out and dropped it only floor. Before I knew it, I was searching in the first aid kit for a cotton ball to put over my injection. The pain made me delusional. It was like something was eating at me from the inside. The cotton ball was over the cut but it still hurt like hell. I felt like something was changing me from the inside. I couldn't help letting out yelps and whisperers but I knew that I would give away my position if I screamed. The serum kept attacked me from the inside; my stomach; my muscles; my legs; even my eyes; everywhere hurt.I felt my consciousness slip away while I got torn to pieces from the inside. _

I woke up again, this time with a scream. Dawn had come; the sun was just glowing on the horizon. I decided to get breakfast instead of trying to sleep again.

Yes, the process was painful. When I awake I had been fully changed. I looked into my father's documents and notes of what the G.E.H.A. did to me. My father had been working in area fifty-one or something close. They were experimenting with animal DNA as well as genetically enhanced humans. G.E.H.A. stood for 'Genetically Enhanced Humans and Animals.' It was a bio weapon getting ready to use in was. The seekers were coming to take the weapon away and destroy it as well as implanting both my father and I.

My father knew he would be caught. So he saved me by giving me the formula to change me and escape the seekers, him being the one to stay behind. He loved me more than anything. He was my only family left as well as my best and only friend. I was homeschooled and my mother died when I was twelve. I was also an only child, now I'm an orphan.

The Formula had enhanced me with animal and inhuman abilities. I had five times the strength of a naturally strong human, skin that couldn't be cut without trying very hard with a knife; I could squeeze a blade and I would only scratch me, I healed ten times faster, my nails could extend from under my skin from my fingers making them actually four times longer, My skin could change colors like a chameleon, My eyesight was brilliant, my eyes changed color depending on what animals' eyes I used; cats' eyes were the most useful, my stomach could digest harder foods, my teeth were as sharp as sharks' teeth even though they stayed a similar shape and I could run faster than a cheetah for hours. My body adapted to the desert and called it my home. Everything else about me was still human but ever since I left my father, even when I hadn't been injected, I felt like an animal needing to survive in the desert.

I caught the scent of a coyote that had fallen on his way to his cave around three kilometers away. I ran like the wind toward it. My sense of smell had also been enhanced. It only took about thirty seconds to get to him. I pounced straight from my chase. When I hunted, I hunted a lot like a lion. I was now on top of the coyote, choking it with my hands. I wrestled with it for about fifteen seconds and then it gave up and its heart stop beating.

It was a good thing that I didn't eat like a lion. That would be gross. When it came to hunting I always let my animal instincts take over. But I wasn't going to be a savage and eat this raw. I grabbed my kill and carried it on my back. Although it was around my size, thanks to my added strength it felt very light. I carried it back to my campsite and dropped it. It would last for around a week, and then I'd have to hunt again. My worn out backpack that my father gave me two years ago still carried my things.

Although the food and water had only lasted a few days, it was stocked with them from what I took from the stores nearby. Thanks to my ability to change my eye color, I could blend in when it came to meeting souls. This never made me stay with them thanks to two reason; one reason was that I wouldn't be able to act like them; and second was that I couldn't stand being near the same things that took my dad away. They aren't even sorry for it. There isn't a swear word bad enough to place a name to them.

I started making a fire with rubbing some matches. I still had the same things in my bag. I already had some dry wood I found to burn the night before. I cooked the meat and ate it. Coyote was not my favorite meal; it was tough and tasted gross. I preferred smaller, softer animals but I couldn't be that cruel to defenseless creature. When I finished my meal I took the carcass and hid it in the tree. It would keep the bugs away, for a while.

I had plenty of water stocked in my bag and my stomach was full. I pulled out my compass and my map. I had to constantly keep moving so I wouldn't get suspicious and so that I wasn't hunting all the animals to extinction in one area. I figured I should head for Tuscan; I hadn't been there since that last night as a human. I decided I should head there tomorrow; it would take me almost a full day to get there without being seen or getting tired. I could only act like a chameleon and blend in when I was very still. The rest of the time would be spent looking for a good campsite.

I spent the day scavenging in the area. I didn't find much so instead I went back to my carcass and to get it prepared for traveling. I could hardly carry an entire carcass while running at top speed across the desert. I started chopping the meat and putting it in a plastic bag. I thought of how I felt like the last living thing on earth. I never really had anything or anyone to live for apart from my father's last request. I constantly felt like I drifted in the world of nothing. I was completely other. This was the whole reason why I felt more like an animal than a human.

When I was done I tied my plastic bad and dumped the rest of the carcass a hundred meters away. When I got back I cleaned my hands in the sand; a good substitute if you didn't want to waste water. I got out my hairbrush and mirror, even if you felt like an animal, the whole world was coming to an end, your species was becoming extinct and you have nothing to live for; a girl still has to look good doing it.

I brushed my elbow-length, wavy, mahogany hair. My hair had golden strands here and there that had been bleached from the sun a bit. I also had red highlights deeper in my hair. Despite having to live like an animal, I loved keeping my hair long. I looked at my brownish-topaz eyes. My father had muddy brown eyes but thanks to my mother, her hazel brightened them and gave a dark topaz. My eyes had gone a little bit of a brighter topaz since the injection. The injection also made my hair silkier, strangely.

***

I finally made it took a good hiding place in Tuscan. I was under a couple of large boulders at the bottom of a hill. I was exhausted and my body demanded some sleep. I laid my head on my backpack and closed my eyes.

"_What is it honey?" My mother asked. I saw my eight year old self standing next to my new bike with my mom holding the handlebars. I was standing right next to my mother, although she didn't see me, she only saw my younger self. I felt like reaching out to her and touch her hand or hugging her never letting go. I knew that my hand would just go thru her, like I wasn't here. I've had similar dreams before._

"_What if I fall? What if I hurt myself? What if I never learn?" I asked in my eight year old voice. I was learning how to ride a bike with my mother teaching me. _

"_Well you'll never know or learn how to bike unless you try" my mother said soothingly._

"_But what if I don't learn how to ride a bike, that way I won't get hurt. It will make us both happy" my young self said. At that age I went through a clumsy stage where I just seemed to be able to trip over anything. I even said out loud 'I hate getting hurt'._

"_Rosie, if you always take the safe path for the rest of your life then you'll never get anywhere. The only way you get anywhere or anything in life is if you walk the risky path every now and then. _

"_Okay mommy" I said smiling. Then I reached out and kissed her on the cheek. Then I saw my mom smile; I felt like crying, how much I missed her. Tears were about to fall when I heard a loud booming noise that made me resurface. _

I woke up with tears in my eyes and my face was wet, too wet. I sat up, all my clothes were soaking wet. I heard thousands of little drops hitting the cracked earth. Rain.

It was raining.

In all my time traveling in the desert, not once had it rained on me.

The water was falling down the hill and the water was up to my ankles when I got up. I grabbed my bag and searched across the desert. I needed to either get to higher ground or hide in a cave. The sky rumbled, _and fast_, I added.

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**Preview of next chapter:**

I opened my eyes and looked into an angel's face.


	2. Discovery

**Readers may find the jump between now and the first chapter a little difficult but bear with me because this is really how Rose experienced it.**

Ch.2 Discovered

My eyes fluttered a little as I awoke. Everywhere ached, it seems that last night was harder on me than I had thought. Where was I?

I must have stumbled into a cave last night. The flash flood last night was treacherous. I was surprised to have found this cave in the first place. I ran through them for a bit until I found an open and lighter place to sleep. I was lying on my side mostly facing down. I still had by backpack with me but my kill was gone.

The room was surprisingly light, I must have been outside. I tried to get up, I couldn't. My body was completely worn out. I closed my eyes again.

After a few minutes I heard footsteps. I was too exhausted to analyze them. It must have been about three people, people? I let out a quiet moan, my leg started cramping but I still couldn't move. I must have been running for hours, all the hills were too slippery to climb. When they got closer I heard a separate set of footsteps quicken to a run. The other two quickened as well after a few moments. "Jamie, what is it?" a woman's voice called.

"There's a girl over there Mel" He said as he got closer. I heard him approach me and then I felt a soft hand on my shoulder. The other two people had reached me now. I could feel the heat from their bodies hovering over me. The boy called Jamie shook me a little, I didn't respond. I was still completely wiped out. "Wanda, there is something wrong with her" His voice started to get very worried. I let out a moan to tell him that I was alive.

"She is breathing. I think she stumbled in here after that storm last night, it was dreadful" Another female voice called, obviously the other person.

The boy turned my over so I was on my back now. He touched my silver, oval-shaped locket and I knew what he was looking at. He was looking at the picture of a rose on it as well as my first name at the top of the locket and last on the bottom."Rose" He spoke clearly and softly now. His voice was so familiar in a way. It sounded like a song even though his voice was strong and boyish. My eyes fluttered a little at the sound of my name in his voice but otherwise stayed closed. "Rose" he whispered. The soothing, soft voice was all it took to open my eyes

I slowly opened my eyes and looked into an Angel's face, Jamie's face. His eyes were lush and green, something I had never seen in my entire life. His face was soft and caring. He was smiling now, a beautiful smile. It was full of warmth and happiness. He looked around my age maybe a little younger for a boy. He was still definitely bigger than me. I smiled a little but then my eyelids felt ten times heavier and I drifted into sleep.

***

I was drifting back to consciousness very slowly, carefully leaving my eyes closed. I listened to the conversations that the people thought I didn't hear.

"How long has she been asleep?" Jamie's familiar voice asked.

"Since you left, I told you we would call you if she awoke" A man's voice answered.

"What is she?" Melanie's voice asked, full of curiosity and discomfort.

"I don't know" Jamie answered. "Her eyes definitely had a glow to them but she doesn't have a single scar on her. I'm surprised she was able to get through the caves in such a short amount of time" He continued.

"Do you think we should wake her up now?"Wanda's voice asked.

"I think we should, we need to let her know what is going on before we take the soul out of her, if she has one." The Man's voice answered. I could sense a sharp, metal tool nearby me.

I flashed my eyes open and tried very hard to get off of the bed I was on. _They_ were not going to do _anything_. I must have been in a makeshift hospital room.

I found myself tied to the cot I was on with tight ropes. Everybody turned to look at me from above. I looked at a woman, a few years older than me with blond hair, her eyes lit up by a soul. I wasn't having any of this. I tried sitting up again and this time I had gone into defense mode. I made a few growls and hisses like a cat. I ripped the rope on my right hand with my sharp teeth. I did my ankles and other hand with my sharp nails. "Jared, stop her!" Melanie called.

The man called Jared grabbed me from the back and pinned my arms behind me as I headed to the door. Ha, ha, ha, he _thought_ he pinned me. I paused and looked from the corner of my eye at the man behind me. I made a low hissing sound and continued walking toward the door, dragging Jared behind me. This was all too easy. Several people gasped loudly at my strength and power.

"No! Jamie, don't!" Both Melanie and Wanda yelled. Jamie ignored this; he put himself in the doorway of the exit with his arms spread wide. That is when I stopped.

I looked into his lush green eyes; His face was beautiful. He was a little bit taller than me and he had dark hair. Even though he was stressed and he was just a boy I thought he looked like an angel. Then he gasped after I started looking at him.

I knew what he was seeing. He was watching my eyes fade with the white light that looked exactly like the light coming from a soul. This only happened when I felt comforted and safe; it came from a strange mixture of the different animal DNA in me.

It was strange that I found this boy comforting. I had only known him for what? Less than an hour? Even then I never really talked to him. I felt this odd, dormant sensation coming from me. It was like…like I was human again.

Only five whole seconds had passed, everybody stared in shock and Jamie's facial feature moved from stress, to surprise and then relaxed. I turned around o look at everybody else. Jared released my hands; obviously he knew that pinning me was way out of his league. I was now completely out of self-defense mode; I was curious. I quickly looked into everybody's eyes as I turned, two of them were souls.

"Who are you people?" I asked, speaking for the first time. Everybody slightly twitched or jumped when I spoke clearly and unthreatened. I was surrounded by two female souls, one woman, five men and Jamie. A man holding a shotgun stepped forward from the crowd.

"I'm Jeb and this is Jamie, Jared, Melanie, Ian, Wanda, Sunny, Kyle and Doc. We are part of the Tuscon colony." He said. "Who might you be?" He asked

I knew he already knew my first name, Jamie would have told him. "Rosalind Terry Anderson" I answered. "My father is a scientist and my mother was a journalist. I am from Tuscan and this is the first time since I changed that I came here, around when they took over. Before you ask, I'm not a soul and I'm not…human" I had to stop from there.

Getting the word 'human' out of my mouth was hard enough, saying that I wasn't one was worse. How I despised that I wasn't human, it made me feel barbaric and a monster, even though it was what I did to survive. However I don't regret changing myself, it was what my father wanted.

Jeb noticed how uncomfortable and annoyed I was getting. "Well, you are welcome to stay with us Rosalind. " He said.

"Call me Rose, and thank you." I said in a sad voice.

"Now have we got any room for Rose anybody?" He asked, nobody in front of him raised their hand.

"It's alright, I can sleep-" I said before I was cut off by Jamie.

"There is a free bed in my room. Remember, the guys moved up north. They'll be back in about a month and by then we'll have mined another room." Jamie said with a smile. Both Wanda and Melanie through him a 'be careful' look but otherwise kept quiet.

"Well that's that, as long as you don't mind Rose." Jeb said. I shook my head.

"Alrighty then, why don't Jamie and Melanie give you a tour of the place while we get you cleaned up and your stomach full." Melanie and Jamie came to me and held my wrist lightly. They pulled me through the caves. They obviously thought I couldn't see well in the dark. It was a few minutes before anybody spoke. It was an uncomfortable silence.

"What are you? I'm not trying to be rude or anything but…" Melanie asked and then trailed of silently. Despite her unfinished sentence, I answered.

"You could say I'm an experiment but otherwise a mutant." They both raised their eyebrows at the term. "My mother died in a car crash when I was twelve. My father as I said was a scientist, he worked in area fifty-one experiment with enhanced human DNA as well as animal DNA." I continued. Both of their jaws were hanging open but then closed them when they saw that I was looking at them. "The souls infiltrated the base to destroy all the equipment as they thought it was barbaric. My father was able to save a prototype of the project he was working on, G.E.H.A. It stands for Genetically Enhanced Humans and Animals. "I paused, thinking of the way my father would come home from work still puzzling and engrossed in his work.

"Must have been some bring-your-daughter-to-work day." Jamie added sarcastically. I giggled at his remark. I wouldn't be allowed into his workplace in my dizziest daydreams.

"When he came home from work that day he started packing essentials in my backpack as well as the G.E.H.A. and his data. Before we could leave the souls were already banging at the door. He instead decided to save me by giving directions on what to do and where to run. I ran for it leaving my father behind for the souls. I did as I was told and injected the serum into my body. The pain was almost…unbearably. I fell asleep and when I woke up, I wasn't human anymore." I stopped there. We had reached the end of the cavern.

"Um, the bathing room is just over there, it's a bit dark and you'll have to mind your step." Melanie said. She pulled out some clothes and a towel that I hadn't noticed her carrying.

The dark was no match for my eyes. I washed myself thoroughly as well as scrubbed my clothes. I hadn't taken a bath in awhile. I usually took one by checking into a motel on the highway every two weeks. It was gross not taking a proper shower and licking yourself like a cat but I hated being in enemy territory.

The clothes were a good fit, probably Wanda's. I made my way out the room and saw that it was only Jamie there. His face was calm but I could see he was slightly excited about something."Where's Melanie?" I asked.

"Oh, she went with Jared to Dinner. We'll catch up with her." He said.

"yeah" I said quietly and then smiling. We continued walking down the cavern.

Being with Jamie and the other humans made me feel different, and yet same somehow. Like I was meant to be here and I had been lost before. I felt like a long dormant part of myself had been awakened again. Like it had been a moonless night and I had only the stars to guide me. For the first time in what seemed eternity, the sun was rising in the east.

I felt…almost…human.


	3. Fallen

**Really sorry this chapter wasn't up earlier. Every time I started typing my inspiration goes blank. However, when I'm not writing and bored I spend all my time thinking about this story. Anyway, the time hasn't been wasted because I spent all the time outlining the story and analyzing the characters. **

**Also, Thanks a bunch to everybody who reviews this story and a special thanks to **_**Lolaluvsbooks **_**who gave me my first review. Hopefully those who read this chapter will get a better understanding of the relationship between the colony and Rose. **

"How many people are there here?" I couldn't help asking. It was strange to not come across a single human in two years and suddenly find a large colony by accident. We were walking through the caverns on our way to the kitchen probably.

"Thirty-eight of us now; including you. Two of us are souls." He said. I smiled at him again although I had no idea or reason why. He smiled back and looked down. I wanted to keep him talking, the more he talked; the more I got that human-like feeling which was strangely addictive. At least I didn't feel much of an animal now.

"So, how did you get here?" He chuckled at my question.

"That is a _long_ story." He answered.

"I have time" I encouraged. Giving him another smile; and again he looks down.

"Me and my sister, Melanie, were staying with her boyfriend, Jared. Melanie heard that our cousin was somewhere in the city end she went to find her. She didn't come back; we found a note instead. It told us we needed to find a new hiding place and that she was gone. Jared found a sort of secret map that lead us here to find uncle Jeb and these caves. We also found that our cousin that Melanie went looking for was here."He explained. I could tell that it was very painful and sad for him when he thought that his sister was lost.

"A year passes and Melanie's body shows up in the middle of the desert out here and she was about to die. We took her in and we knew that there was a soul inside her, Wanda was inside her." Now this confused me. Both Melanie and Wanda were here with separate bodies.

"We soon found out that Melanie was still alive in Wanda's head and they actually talked to each other. They're like twin sisters now. They know everything about each other. They even loved the same people when they were sharing the same body. That is why I think about both of them as my sisters. In the end, Wanda was about to kill herself and let Melanie take over her body. Doc took her out but from the persuasion of a knife to the throat, we put her inside another body; one where the human soul inside it was long gone. "He finished.

"Wow" Was all I could say. I guess my ideas on Souls were wrong. There might actually be a good side to them occasionally. Occasionally.

We reached the kitchen now. They were serving corn on the cob, beans and…SAUSAGES! How in the world were they able to bring perishable food out here? Jamie grabbed two plates. I breathed and the beautiful aroma had reached my nose. I even tasted it on the back of my tongue; it had my mouth watering. I hadn't eaten proper veggies in how long? Two years? It felt longer than that

Jamie judged that I was hungry and got what he called was two 'Kyle helpings'. We headed for the table where Melanie, Jared, Wanda, Ian and Jeb sat. They were some of the last ones eating. As soon as we sat down their conversations died down. Two women from another table were eyeing me carefully; mostly glaring. One whispered to the other and I could tell that one of them was called Maggie. There were several silent moments as I felt several pairs of eyes on me as I sat down and started eating my food. I started with the corn, it tasted brilliant.

"Mmm. I actually haven't had corn in two years. Or any other type of veggie for that matter" I said trying to make a little small talk with Jamie if everybody else was going to be silent. Apparently they were all listening.

"Really? What did you usually eat?" Jamie asked.

"Coyote, or if I was up north I would try mountain lion." I said casually. Everybody except Jeb had either dropped their forks or their jaw hung open. "Don't worry. I didn't eat them raw. As I said my animal DNA allows me to survive on just about anything, such as a carnivorous diet. I much prefer human food though." I quickly added and went back to my food. Everybody else followed a few seconds later but with open ears.

"Couldn't you like get it from the store? I mean your eyes would pass a check." Jamie asked. He was quite intrigued.

"I preferred not going to the stores actually." I said with a hint of distaste in my tone. Jamie attempted to lift my mood with a change of subject.

"So what can you actually do? I mean we know you are really strong and can change your eye color; is there anything else you can do?" He asked; his voice saturated with curiosity.

"Well," I began. This was going to be a long list and no doubt that a few people will be a bit frightened by me. However something inside of me wanted to tell Jamie everything about me. "Apart from having five times the strength of a naturally strong human; my skin is harder than yours; a knife would only scratch me." I waited for that to sink in.

I continued, "I heal ten times faster than you, my skin can change colors like a chameleon and blend in if I stay still." I placed my hand on the table. I made my skin camouflage into the faux wood grains on the surface. Everybody stared, wide eyed; I had to admit it was surprisingly enjoyable.

"Whoa" Jamie said; everybody else was speechless; Jeb made an impressed whistle.

"I can also extend my fingernails instantly from under the skin of my fingers." I let my skin fade back to normal. I pushed away me and Jamie's plate so they wouldn't get in the way. I quickly extended my nails as fast as a bullet. Everybody jumped when they came out. Both Wanda and Melanie clung onto Ian and Jared tighter. Perhaps I shouldn't have brought them out so fast. I drew them back under my skin.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Jamie asked; he was amazed.

"No, not at all. Of course it tickled a bit when I first started doing it" I answered and then continued my lecture.

"As you can tell, my eyes can change color. My eyes go silver out of habit because I usually leave them on in case anybody found me. I don't know whether you have noticed but my eyes are more orange than they should be. Those are cats' eyes mixing in with my brown. They are very useful; they allow me to see in the dark as well as long distance." Jamie's eyes poured into mine as he tried to examine them. Then his face relaxed and instead gazed into my eyes. Surprisingly, I did the same.

His eyes were lush and kind. I could sense some desire behind them but only very faint. I felt like I could gaze into them for hours. They were endless and inviting. A few long moments passed. I felt blood beginning to flood my cheeks. I pulled away right before he did.

I just realized that I had _blushed_. I hadn't blushed since…since…

"Well they really are something." He said slightly uncomfortably. I could tell that everybody saw our exchange; especially Melanie and Wanda who seemed to see a lot more than the men. Their expressions were a mix of concern, awe, joyful, suspicious, anticipation and worry.

"I can also run faster than a cheetah without getting tired for a few hours. My sprints are about as fast as a formula one car. My teeth are as sharp as sharks' teeth and I have an unlimited number of sets just like a shark. However, my teeth still look like human teeth. Not to mention all five senses were enhanced as well. Last but not least, I have a photographic memory which comes in handy. Apart from all that, I'm relatively human" I concluded. I finished off my meal. I was hungrier than I thought. Jamie insisted on taking my plate when I could perfectly walk and put it away. When he was away, the table was very silent and everybody was very nervous. I guessed that they were worried I would hurt them.

"Although, I don't find this something to brag about. I don't regret changing because it saved my life, but… I don't like the fact that I'm not completely human. It makes me feel barbaric and like I've lost ho I truly am. "I said sadly. This calmed some people, but not everyone. Wanda and Melanie were worried before and now they were still worried, but this time they had a bit of concern and sadness in their eyes.

"Well Rose," Jamie was back. I noticed that I was actually relived and smiling when I heard his voice. "I think we better head to bed because tomorrow we will be harvesting some of the tomatoes." He said; he also smiled. It made my insides fly. This was unusual, the only time I had ever felt like this in my life was when…

Ugh. I didn't dare remember the name, otherwise pain, betrayal and disappointment would flood me; mostly pain. Jamie took my wrist and led me to the door to the other caverns. My heart slightly jumped at the touch. When we left I overheard the conversation that followed at the table. They forgot that I could hear me because it was about me.

"Jeb, do you think we should kick her out?" asked Jared.

"No. I don't think so because I don't think she'll do any harm. Plus, she could be a really big hand around here." Jeb replied.

"I don't know, especially with Jamie being so close to her" Jared said.

"I don't think we'll need to worry about her hurting Jamie. " Wanda answered instead.

"Why do you say that?" Jared asked, obviously confused. Melanie answered before Wanda did.

"Oh come on! You had to see the way she looked at him. And how you or anybody else couldn't stop her from leaving _except_ Jamie. She also woke when Jamie entered the room. She always smiles when he does. Plus, have you seen how she acts when she talks to Jamie? How her voice comes out?" She waited a few moments for an answer. Silence; so she answered herself, "She talks to him in a more than friendly way. She sounds most 'human' when she talks to him. She talks to us like she is giving a lecture and stating the facts. Her voice is so boring and robotic when she talks to us, except Jamie. Do the math and you come to the conclusion she is falling for him." Melanie said.

"How in the world would you notice and know all that in less than three hours?" Ian asked this time and Wanda answered.

"First, it is obvious. Second, you can see it in her eyes. And third, we _are_ women. We know these things because we've been there." Wanda explained. Jamie was right, they do both act like twin sisters. They both think similar things as well as know each other. Jeb spoke next,

"Well, as long as she doesn't cause any trouble then she is welcomed here. No matter what Maggie and Sharon thinks. She is very human apart from those things. Anyway, Kyle will get a kick out of not being the strongest person around here." Then I tuned out of their conversation as it moved to a different topic.

That fact made my mind wonder a bit on how strong Kyle was, but only a little bit. My mind was more focused on what Melanie said. Was I _falling_ for Jamie? Did I really think of him like that? This left me puzzling for a few moments. I knew that my feelings and thoughts were already confused so I came to my favorite conclusion and answer: _Only time will tell._

He led me to a room that actually had a door. There were three single beds in the room and he let go of my wrist. He left the room for me to get changed. He knocked and came in after I was done. I crawled into the bed next to his.

"You can get changed in here. Don't worry I won't look." I said.

"Sure" he said, but his words sounded like that he was _thinking_ a different. He climbed into his bed and said, "Good night," he waited a few moments and then staged a cough.

"What?" I asked.

"You're supposed to say 'sleep tight' when I say 'good night.'" He explained.

"Okay, sure. Sleep tight" I said

"Don't let the bed bugs bite" He answered. Of course there weren't bed bugs here.

And for the first time in two years I didn't dream nightmares; I didn't dream memories; I didn't dream 'animal' dreams like hunting a coyote; I dreamt about Jamie.

**Again, sorry about not posting this up sooner. But I will at least be posting a new chapter every week. I would appreciate reviews GREATLY. Even just a few words mean a lot to me. **

**Thanks!**


	4. Useful

**Sorry about not getting this up earlier. Right now I'm also working on a couple shorts from different points of views. Just remember that the last chapter left off when Rose went to sleep. **

It was what I guess was a classic, fluffy dream. The one that sticks in your head for years to come and then one day tell it to someone at a 'fairytale' moment. It was twilight over the horizon and I was sitting on soft sand with my arms wrapped around my knees lightly. The sand was still warm from the heat of the sun between my toes. The wind was blowing lightly from the side and my hair danced and curved in the air. I had been sitting there by myself for a while until I heard somebody behind me and looked up. It was Jamie, with his beautiful smile and lush, green eyes; the ones that sent my heart soaring with warmth, even in a dream. He came and sat next to me and whispered the words in my ear, "You don't have to be alone you know."

"I know" I said with a smile and rested my head on his shoulder. He wrapped one arm around my shoulder.

"Not when I'm here for you" He whispered and then I closed my eyes and let myself drift in the dream.

My eyes fluttered open when somebody shook my shoulder slightly. "Good Morning Rose" Jamie said all bright and awake. "Wanda stopped by to drop off some clothes for you. She said they'll have to do for now but the next time we go on a raid we'll have to get some more. Anyway, today we're working on irrigating the tomatoes. I'll leave you here to get dressed but if you're not out in ten minutes then I'll have to come in and get you 'cause Jeb can get real mad if somebody is late."

I sat up in my bed and then stretched. "Sure, see you in a few minutes." I half-yawned; then he left and shut the door. I got changed fairly quickly; mostly thinking about Jamie. The dream I had felt more of a fantasy. It felt very nice even as a dream. However, I then started remembering the one time it was sort of like the way my dream had been, that was awful. One name that of which would be burned in my memory: _Josh_. The name to me was riddled with betrayal and despair. He left me dangling; he left me alone; he left me betrayed; simple, _he left me_. How many times had I thought so much of him? What he told me was mostly lies. I had once thought of him as one I could trust. How young, naïve and blind I was.

I was changed now and, strangely, anxious to see Jamie. I shoved the malicious thoughts away hoping they would never come back. My hope was empty; they would always come back.

Jamie was waiting outside and a smile lit up on his face as soon as he saw me. I couldn't help smiling back. He led me through the halls while told me about the people in the colony and pointed them out to me. Then we walked into the kitchen and grabbed some chicken and corn soup. We sat down at the same table with Melanie, Wanda, Jared and Ian.

"Hey guys" Jamie greeted. I gave them a shy smile instead.

"Hey Jamie" said Melanie. "I was wondering if you two would fancy a game of soccer later."

"Sure, I'd love to. How about you Rose?" He turned to me. Did he honestly forget I wasn't human? I didn't know if that was flattering or insulting; but flattering coming from him. _That_ made my heart flutter.

"I'd like to as well but I think that I would kill the ball or hurt anybody I crash into. And I don't think it would be a fair game if I could run faster than a cheetah and you guys can't. I think I could watch though. That would be fun." I said.

"Sounds good to me." Jamie said. We finished our soup fairly fast and got up to put our dishes away. He again told me about the people that were part of the colony. By the time we reached the tomatoes I had known most of the peoples' names.

The structure of the tomato plantation was genius. The mirrors reflected the light so they could be kept indoors. I must say it was quite refreshing to see some lush vegetation, even if the plants were only a foot tall. Jamie grabbed two shovels from a hole in the wall and threw one to me. The shovel made a _ding_ noise like a bell when I caught it, guessing that was the shovel hitting my hard skin; or the other way round. I made a theatric cringe when it did at Jamie, he laughed.

"Come on Rose." He led me to the far corner of the plantation. Other people started to arrive when we did; a lot of them stared at me before going to work.

"Okay, the water comes in on from the far wall. The ditch should only be about seven centimeters deep and the width of your shovel wide. The ditches coming through the plants are only four centimeters deep so the water can overflow into the plants. Unfortunately, the dirt is really hard from the sun and the bit of water that leaked in here from the storm so it will take some time." He explained and started digging.

"Sure" I said and for a few short seconds watched him dig. The soil looked like it was hard when he was digging; he only did less than an inch in the time. I played copycat and did the same and used the same amount of force. As soon as I did, the shovel went two feet straight through the ground and at the same time I bent the metal shovel back in the same movement. Everybody heard the metal bend in the room and bent up from their work to look at me. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds when I decided to say, "Um…Oops. I guess I forgot how strong I was. Umm…" I pulled the shovel back up and bent it back making the same sound as it was before. Then looked over to Jamie and gave him a cheesy smile.

He laughed and said "Yeah, I think you better go a bit lighter" and then went back to his work. I tried going lighter but it didn't work out so well. I kept on making it too deep or too shallow and sometimes bending the shovel. I eventually gave up and, _gently_, tossed my shovel to the side. Jamie looked up at me as I bent down and dug my hands in the dirt exactly four centimeters in. I then dragged my hands all the way to the other side of the plantation. It felt like my hands going through some rough sand. I then reached the end with a two big balls of dirt. I sprinkled it along the wall and walked back to Jamie with a smirk on my face. His jaw had dropped open in shock. I had just completed in around thirty seconds what would have taken an hour.

"There you go, all done. Guess we have some time off." I concluded whilst dusting off my hands and gave him a half-smirk, half-charming smile.

Jamie was still in shock; whether it was my inhuman strength or my smile I don't know. "Um… I think we should go and talk to Jeb about something a little different about your work." He said and pointed to the exit without looking away from me with his shocked face. I shrugged my shoulders and followed him out. We met Jeb halfway down the cavern.

"Uh… Uncle Jeb. Me and Rose finished our part of the field thanks to her super strength. Do you want us to do the rest of the field or do you want us to work somewhere else?" Jamie asked.

"Well if you are really that strong then maybe you two can help Kyle and Sam with the room that needs to be mined." He said and continued walking down the tunnel. Jamie did the same and I followed.

"You know, Jeb's right. You could be very useful around here, it will us more time. However, I think it will take some time for the guys here to get used to you. Jeb's already cool with you so it shouldn't take too long. To be honest, you're not that different from an ordinary human."He smiled.

I couldn't help feeling pleased at these words. He honestly thought that I wasn't that much of an animal. If my father had added wings to the G.E.H.A., I would have taken flight by now without effort.

I heard the sound of clashing metal and rock down the tunnel. We reached them a minute later. The doorway had already been mined but the room was only half the size it was supposed to be.

"Hey guys" Jamie greeted the men. They were fairly well built so I wasn't surprised that they were assigned this difficult task. "Jeb told us to work here after we finished our section of the field. But Rose will be doing most of the work."

"Ugh…are you kidding?" Kyle said.

"How in the world is she supposed to be strong enough to mine?" Sam asked.

"Just watch her" He sighed.

"Okay…" Kyle said than threw me the mining tool in his hand. I caught it and then examined it. The angles on it made it very unpredictable to how the rock would break. I would need something more exact with my strength.

"Um… No thank you" I said shyly and handed him back his tool. He gave me a very confused look fixed with a 'you gotta be kidding' look but took it anyway. I turned to the wall that needed to be mined further.

"How much deeper does it need to be mined?" I asked without looking away.

"Around two more meters" answered Sam. I nodded and placed my fingers on the wall with only my nails touching it. I then quickly extended them into the rock without making me move an inch. It was like cutting through hard butter. Both men gasped as my nails went in. I then slowly scrunched my fist together dragging the rock out with my nails almost effortlessly. The rock that fell tumbled to the ground. I had made a hole in the wall.

I could do better.

I stepped back to look at the entire wall top to bottom. "So do you want it this width and height and two meters deeper?" I asked.

"Yeah" Sam answered, a bit stunned. I smiled and got to work. I used my nail to penetrate the rock deep by a few inches and outlined the entire wall with the little crevasse. I then hit the wall really hard causing it to crack all the way to the ends and touched my outline and then stopped. I had carefully hit it so the crack would only spread sideways and not anywhere else.

"Whoa. Cool." Jamie said.

"Jamie, how about you kick the wall?" I said as I turned to look at him with a slight smirk.

"Sure" He shrugged and walked over to it. As soon as he kicked it the cracked wall turned to rubble and dust. When it settled you could see that the wall was the same shape, just deeper in the chamber.

"Well, this shouldn't take long" Sam concluded. Kyle had a look on his face that was a mixture of annoyance, shock, jealousy, aggression and embarrassment. I tried not to burst up laughing for the next hour and thankfully, succeeded.

The two men eventually left after Kyle making a grunting noise leaving me and Jamie to do the mining. It was a lot of fun; me and Jamie working together. We had smiles on our faces the whole time. Whenever he turned to me my smile would widen and show my teeth. His smile widened as well and my heart fluttered when that happened. We penetrated the chamber for about a meter when Jeb came in.

"Hey guys. Wow, lookin' good. Anyway it's time for lunch so you two better hurry up before all the chicken goes."

So we dusted off out hands and headed for the kitchen. We grabbed our meal and sat down with Melanie, Wanda, Ian, Jared and Doc.

"Where've you two been?" Melanie asked raising one eyebrow.

"We finished work early so we went to take over at mining the new room. We got it covered and Kyle got really pissed with Rose" Jamie said, chuckling.

"What did you?" Wanda asked me.

"I just scraped the rock away," I said. Then Jamie looked over to me, raising one eyebrow and giving me the 'And?' look. Wanda and Melanie did the same. "With my bare hands." I added quietly.

Ian and Jared burst into laughter and Wanda and Melanie chuckled. I couldn't help noticing my voice had changed since yesterday. It was so lifeless and robotic then. Now it was full of emotion and life.

"I bet the look on his face was priceless." Ian said after he stopped laughing.

"Did you get a photo?" Jared asked.

"No, but I could draw it for you" I said. Everybody went 'huh?' when I said that. "Just get me a paper and something to draw with and I can show you. Jamie fetched one from the kitchen and came back with a paper and pencil.

"I have a photographic memory. I can remember everything I see. I can also draw everything I see. Almost trace the image in my head." I explained. I started drawing on the paper, carefully tracing the lines of the picture in my head. I could see both the white paper and the picture at the same time. I also drew fairly fast; I was done in about a minute. Then I lifted up the picture and showed it to them. They all burst into laughter again.

"Yep. Definitely priceless"

After we were done we headed down the caves. As I turned to go into the cavern full of bedroom Jamie pulled my arm. I looked up at him confused.

"We promised to go play soccer, remember?" Jamie said. I smiled and nodded and then continued down the cave. Then I muttered to myself,

"Oh this is going to be fun."

Preview of next chapter:

"Come on. I've wanted a shopping partner in like forever"

**Again, sorry about not getting this up sooner. I've got other stories I'm thinking about writing but I promise you guys that I'll finish this one before I go onto a really big , new, adventure one. I might post a few short ones though. I'll probably be writing a bit more now that Easter holiday is coming up.**

**Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter in your reviews. Also, let me know on what you think is going to happen next or what you want to see happen.**


	5. Faux and Fact

**Really, really sorry about not updating this earlier. I've been busy lately and I've been reading a lot. Also, pretty soon I'll be posting some other stories so that should be good. Thanks again to all that reviewed my story and I would love for some more reviews. Anyway, this chapter is longer than the rest so it is worth a little bit of the wait. Enjoy! It's an important chapter.**

We reached a large cavern that that was big enough to play sports in. A few people were already assembled and in their positions. Jamie led me to the bench on the side Wanda was already sitting.

"Hey, guess you're spending the game with me" She said. Then Jamie turned to me.

"Are you sure you don't want to play?" He gave me a very cute puppy-dog face. I had to laugh at that.

"Sorry Jamie, but unless you want anybody to survive this game then I'll have to sit out." I smiled and waved as he went with the others to divide up into teams. I went and sat down next to Wanda. Who knew that I would be sitting next to a soul watching humans playing football in caves? There was an odd scent I picked up but dismissed it guessing it was Wanda. I wonder why she smelt different to the others here.

"Okay guys, first to three." Jared declared and the game started.

Most of them were really good apart from some of the other people that I hadn't been properly introduced to yet. Then Jamie scored a goal by curving the ball from the left.

"Go Jamie!" I called out. Then he looked at me and his smile lit up even brighter than it was. He ran his fingers through his dark hair. I couldn't help giggling a little but otherwise blush when he did. He was so…how do I put it?…cute.

"Jamie has changed so much since I first met him." Wanda sighed. I turned to her after I was able to turn away from Jamie which, might I add, took around ten seconds.

"Like what?" I would love to hear his stories when I wasn't here.

"He was content before the souls came to your planet. The loss of his parents and Melanie changed him but he is still the boy that Melanie grew up with every now and then when he lets his guard down. When I came here he used to love hearing the stories I told about the different worlds I visited. Melanie and I both love him very much. I love him like a brother even though I'm not, biologically. Maybe that's another reason why I'm having a child." She said and smiled at me. I then continued watching Jamie playing soccer.

"Hhmm…" I sighed. Then something clicked in my head. "Wait, what? You're having a baby?" I asked.

"Yes and I'm two months along. I simply can't wait." She smiled again. I was shocked; I had no idea what to say. I closed my eyes and tilted my head to her. I could hear the second heartbeat coming from her body. I hadn't noticed it because I had only just met her. I could also smell her changing body as well as some of her hormones. No wonder she smelt different to the others.

"Wow" was all I could say and continued watching the game. Jamie's team was winning 2-1. It looked like a lot of fun; I wish I could play.

"Although, I find it sad that only I can have a baby in the caves because I'm the only soul that is allowed to go on raids. That way I can go for check-ups and eventually give birth at the hospitals." She sighed.

"But aren't you worried that they'll take away your child and put a soul in?" I asked.

"No, they wouldn't take it away if I asked them not to. You see, souls don't lie to each other because they are always looking out for each other. At least, that's what most souls think. I've seen it before, there are quite a few families on earth where the parents are souls and their children are humans." She explained.

"Hhmm, I never knew that." I said. Then Jamie scored the last goal to make it 3-1. Then when Jamie was done he ran over to me. Melanie and the rest of the gang followed. "Wow Jamie, you did great" I said whilst Jamie blushed a little. Melanie and Wanda exchanged expressions. Then he yawned. "Come on Jamie, you're tired. We better get back to your room." I said and headed to the door. He followed; everybody else did but stayed further back.

"It's your room as well." He said.

"Okay, it is until you kick me out when the guys come from the north."

"What if I don't want to kick you out?" he said and then flushed scarlet. I smiled at that and tried not to giggle. He decided to change the subject. "So, what did you think about the game?"

"Pretty good. Much more interesting when the game is played indoors and in close quarters." I said.

"Did the guys at your old school play much?" he asked.

"Actually no. I was homeschooled ever since I was eleven. But I did watch some of the boys play in the park on Fridays. My old boyfriend invited me to come along. I tried playing but I was never fast enough at the time." I said. Josh played as main offence for his team. I watched and supported him during the games. Ugh, he was coming up in my thoughts way too much today.

"Oh. Why were you home-schooled?" He asked.

"I was very different to the kids at school. I just wasn't into the same things as them. I guess you could say I was very middle-aged. A lot of the kids at school were very immature compared to me. Also, my dad could see that I had more potential if I learned things at school. Anyway, telling everybody at school that your dad works in area fifty-one isn't the best thing you can do." I said with a teasing smile. He chuckled.

"Isn't area fifty-one supposed to be about aliens and UFO landings?" He asked.

"Where do you think they got the technology? You didn't actually think that test subjects from area fifty didn't end up as New York cab drivers did you? Or that Velcro was actually invented on earth?" I teased and winked at him. He laughed at that. I heard a couple words from the crowd behind us. Something about me and my 'flirty face', 'are you sure they should be sharing the same room?' and 'You up for a bet?' and then they all started talking about Jamie when he was younger.

"I wonder how many UFO landings were actually true?" He wondered.

"Quite a few of them so I've heard. From what my dad told me, some of them have actually started living on earth. I mean, does anyone actually believe that Michael Jackson is from this planet? But that's just a rumor." I said .We both laughed as we kept walking. To be honest to myself, I hadn't had that much fun since I was twelve and my mother was around. When the world was carefree to me. Jamie was just so much fun. He was just…great. He made me feel like I was when my mother was around.

"_Come on Rose. It's just around here." Josh said. We were in the city. Josh and I were sneaking around the town in the alleyways. It was nighttime and most of the stores had already closed. We were at the backdoor of the store. We came to get food and supplies. This had been after I had been changed. I didn't dare tell Josh that I was some sort of mutant in fear he would abandon me. I had found him a couple days after my transformation. Josh was my boyfriend that I had met in the park one day. He went to the nearby school._

_Josh quickly picked the lock on the door. I looked around us; nobody. He then turned the knob on the door. A loud alarm went off that possibly woke up several souls nearby._

_Busted._

_Josh whipped his head around. Nobody had come yet but we could hear several distant sirens coming from our right. Josh looked to his left and saw that the alleyway was calm and undisturbed. He then turned to me. He knew we couldn't outrun them._

_He took out a pair of handcuffs he had gotten from his dad who used to work at the local police station. He quickly grabbed my wrist and cuffed me to the rails near the door. I gasped. Then he threw the key a couple meters away. I wouldn't be able to reach it before the seekers came. NO!_

_Before I could say anything he grabbed me from my shirt very roughly. Then wrapped his arm around my waist and crushed his lips to mine. His kiss was urgent and unloving. Although the way his lips moved made it seem like it was best kiss somebody could have, it was somehow unaffectionate. It was somewhat unloving. Then something clicked in my head, he wanted the kiss and my body; not me. He pulled away and gave me one last look. It was cold, careless and unloving. It wasn't angry, sad, mocking or wicked; just plain. I only caught it for a brief second and then he was running._

_Time seemed to slow down from milliseconds to seconds. Watching him running away from me with his back turned made me feel like a hundred despair-filled daggers sliced into me. Not only was it the pain that made it terrible, it was the fact he wasn't coming back, He betrayed me. I tried to find the reason to his actions that showed he loved me. It was useless, like I was searching for something and found nothing, and then forget what you were looking for._

_After all the times he told me he loved me I finally understood they were all lies. Then all the pieces came together in that moment. All the times he brought me to watch him playing soccer at games or to his parties; he was just showing off. I was pretty sure in that he was also going out with another girl at school. Sure, he was my boyfriend but he spent an awful lot of time during the weekends 'doing his homework'. _

_He always had his arms around me; my waist; my legs; my breasts. I had to stop his hands from going up my shirt one time. We had only started dating for about six months. He was really my first boyfriend. Now he was turning my back on me even though he said he loved me. _

_Did he love me? No, that's a simple question with a simple answer._

_Did I love him? That's a complex question with a complex answer. _

_Did I love him? I looked deep down and searched for him in my heart. There was something but not much. Then I realized._

_I didn't love him. I loved the idea of him. Somebody to protect and care for me. That was who I wanted. If he loved me, did he not deserve my love? I didn't love his exact persona. I liked him but I was in love with him. That was simple. _

_Did I love him? No_

_Did I love the idea and the false image of him? Yes_

_The sirens were getting closer. I broke the handcuffs using my free hand; then jumped to the roof of the buildings and started jumping from building to building. I eventually reached the outskirts of the city. I then ran into the Tucson desert and found the tallest mountain in the area. I climbed to the summit and cried my heart out for the death of the Josh that never existed._

"Rose, Rose, Rose!" Jamie said shaking me from my sleep. I sat up in my bed. Jamie was by my side. He wore a worried look on his face. I was back in the caves and away from my memories and nightmares; which of today, both keep the same company; each other.

"Wait, what's happening?" I asked. My face had been covered in tears.

"You were screaming in your sleep" he looked down at our hands which were intertwined without me knowing. I didn't mind; it was comforting. "Then you started crying" he looked back up "What's wrong?"

I let out a sigh. "My memories of my horrible past." I looked down at our hands as he did. I saw him blush briefly when I did. I smiled half-heartedly. "It seems that even today it haunts me in my nightmares." I looked back up.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" He said. I looked into his eyes. They were soft and caring; much different from Josh's. He cared.

"Not really. I doubt it would help. They've been haunting me for years." I said stubbornly.

"Well, you never know until you try." He said. I sighed; I wasn't going to tell him all of it.

"After I was changed, I sought out a close friend of mine. I found him but I didn't tell him I was changed. We were raiding one night and an alarm went off. Instead of helping me out to escape the seekers he just cuffed me to the railing and ran off." I said in deep sadness. Jamie heard the betrayal in my voice. The tears started running down my faces.

He put his arms around me and started rubbing my back. I sobbed into his chest for a bit. He didn't say anything. I pulled away after a while.

"I know what it's like to have somebody you trust with your life to betray you. I was eight when the seekers took my dad. Later on he came back for us, bringing the seekers as well. I was younger and I didn't really understand what was going on then." He said. Our hands were still together.

"I'm sorry." I said. "It must have been rough for you to find out about them when you were much younger. I only found out when I had just turned sixteen."

"Yeah" a few silent moments passed. "How old are you?" he asked.

"Eighteen, my birthday was a month ago. You?" I asked

"Sixteen, but my birthday is next month." He said.

"We better get back to sleep." We went back to our beds and drifted back to sleep. Another Memory.

_It was sunset and I was standing on a bridge. I was around eight; my eyes were the earthy brown they once were. I was in Phoenix; Ecanto Park (__**exists in real life**__). I went to the park with my aunt because my parents were attending my grandmother's funeral in Canada. I couldn't go because there weren't any plane tickets and I was in the lead in one of the musicals at the local theater; I was performing tomorrow. Anyway, I had never met my grandmother._

_My aunt had to go somewhere for a few minute and asked me to wait on the bridge. My aunt didn't really take care of me very well but she was the only other family around; my parents didn't like sitters. I missed my parents dearly. They were the only people I had ever really talked to. I didn't have many friends._

_I was holding my locket that was currently around my neck. I was also watching the sun set behind the horizon. It was strange how a lot of my dreams took place at twilight; maybe it was because it was the ending of another day; another day of my empty life. It promised the hope of a tomorrow after the suspense of the dark. _

"_Why are you so sad?" I turned to where the voice came from. I saw a boy around my age, maybe younger looking at me. At that age I found boys to be very immature and annoying but there was something different about this boy. He had dark hair but I could see his eyes. He leaned on the railing of the bridge just like I had done. He looked at the sunset as well._

"_I miss my parents" I said. I tuned back to the sunset. "They miss my grandmother"_

"_You love them?" he asked. What a strange question for a boy his age to ask._

"_Yes, they are also my best friends." I said. Some moments of silence passed._

"_My sister said that the entire world is made of love and hate. Without love, the world couldn't work. It's like the oil in a machine. Without the love of your family; you'd only have hate. Without the love of your friends; they would never be there for you. She also says that if you love somebody enough; they never leave you because you remember them." He said. He looked to me, I faced to him. Then he continue,"The biggest difference between humans and animals isn't our brains, our size, our numbers, or our power; it's our love." He said to me with a beautiful smile. I smiled back. I had never met a boy that knew so much about life as well as being wise._

"_Rose!" called my aunt. She was waiting for me at the end of the bridge._

"_I have to go. Bye." I said half-heartedly. I didn't want to leave but my aunt wasn't very patient. I gave him one last smile and walked to my aunt. When I reached her I forgot to ask his name but when I turned back, he wasn't there._

I heard the bedcovers ruffle on the bed next to mine. I heard Jamie stretch and yawn. I woke up as well and sat up in my bed.

"Good morning" I said.

After getting ready in the morning we made our way to breakfast. We grabbed our food and made it to the table. Wanda, Ian, Melanie and Jared were already at the table.

"When's the next raid?" Jamie asked.

"At the end of this week. Some of us need some new clothes. Plus, it's going to take more than one raid to find some decent music for the party at the end of this month." Jared said.

"What party?" I asked.

"Oh, we have a party once a year to celebrate the day when Jeb found these caves. Gives us some time to let loose. You can some too." Melanie said.

"Sounds like fun." I said cheerfully. "I've never really been to a proper party. The closest thing I've ever been to was a ball that I went to with my mother because she was writing a story about it." I said.

"Well then, this will be very different. Me and Wanda throw the most outrageous parties." Melanie laughed.

"Hey. Do you think that you could go shopping with me on our next raid? I mean, you could pass the eye check. Plus, you get to pick out your own clothes." Wanda asked.

"Ugh… I don't really know. Shopping isn't really my thing. Especially since whenever I went out when I was younger the only thing I could afford with my own pocket money was socks. I saved the rest of the money."

"Come on. I've wanted a shopping partner in like forever" she pleaded; trying a puppy-dog face. "Anyway, it's not like you don't have enough money. Remember, Souls don't use money." She said.

"Right." I said with a sigh.

"Is that a yes?" she asked.

"Fine." I wasn't really a big fan of shopping but I bet it must be boring shopping by yourself all the time.

"Can I go too?" Jamie asked.

"Sure" Jared said with a suspicious tone. Jamie gave him a look.

"I can't wait!" Wanda said excitedly. Luckily it would be a couple days 'till I have to go.

**Preview of the next chapter:**

"Okay, let's make this shopping trip interesting since you find it…um…not." She gave me a mischievous smile."Truth or dare?" She asked me.

Oh crap.

**Hope you enjoyed it! School is going to start pretty soon so I should have more time to think of my stories. What else are you going to do when your teacher goes on and on about the food pyramid or even worse; the rock cycle which I've studied what? Five times?**

**Anyway, please review and happy reading.**

**-Star of the Sky**


	6. Chronicles

**Hey guys. Hop****efully the story is about to get more interesting. I've also been working with some other drafts of stories lately. I'm not going to put anything up until I have something to get you guys interested. **

**Also, I'd like to say to everybody that's facing the swine flu outbreak, "Good luck" and "Hope for the best." I really hope everybody keeps healthy out there.**

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We made our way back to the half-mined room. We finished the space of the room not too long afterwards. We talked mostly about the little things that happened when we were growing up. He said he can't remember much before the souls took over because he was so little. Only found out when I was sixteen. He and his sister had been running for so long. My father and I weren't taken by the seekers for a while because we lived in an out of the way location that wasn't too far from the highway. We were half isolated from the rest of the world.

We finished off by sanding down some of the rough edges in the room. We then dusted off our hands and brushed the dust off our clothes.

"So…. What do you want to do now?" I asked.

"Well, we still have another hour and a half 'till lunch so we could head to the tower." He said.

"The tower?"

"It's just a fancy name for it. Here, follow me, I'll show you." He took my wrist lightly. I saw a small smile when I didn't flinch or pull away. He led me through some of the caverns that were currently empty because everybody else was working. We went past the mess hall to a small tunnel in the wall. He climbed in and crawled through it. He turned around and when he heard that I didn't follow. I can get claustrophobic sometimes. He offered me a hand.

"Trust me; it's not a long tunnel. It's worth the view." My heart fluttered when he said _Trust me. _Of course I would trust him, how could I not? I took his hand and climbed in the tunnel.

We crawled around in there for about a minute and a half when I saw light at the end. When we reached the top I found myself in a lookout. It was only made up of rocks that were slanted so that there was a roof to shield you from the sun. There were some dry grasses that surrounded us to conceal it more. We weren't able to fully stand up though. We had to stay on our knees.

Most importantly, it had a great view. You could see the rise and fall of the hills. The hot sun shined down on the golden orange land. Somehow, it was beautiful. The land curved and dipped from the flash floods that would arrive a few times a year. The land was created by water and was what it was by the lack of it.

"We use this place to watch out if any seekers are coming. Mostly it has a great view." I went to the side to look out into the valley. He followed. The valley was relatively very green. The plants had flourished from the rain that had come from a few days ago. The saguaros were the skyscrapers of the desert. They reached towards the sky whilst many of the other plants were down below.

"Beautiful" I murmured nonchalantly.

"Yeah" he said in the same tone. I turned to him and found him staring directly at me. He quickly turned away and looked at the valley; but not before I caught him blushing. Apparently, I did the same.

"So, where were you before you came here?" he asked to fill the silence.

"Well, before I came here, I was traveling around the east side of Phoenix. Before that, I was around Colorado."

"How many states have you been to?" He asked

"Fourteen; I went touring for a while. I had only been to four before I was changed. You?"

'Three; here, New Mexico and Utah. I haven't been to many wet places."

"To be honest, I prefer the dry. I never really liked getting wet. Probably because when I was little I was afraid of the pool. Some of the boys there would push me in when I wasn't looking." I chuckled.

"We better get going, it's around one now. Lunch will be ready in a few." He went back down the tunnel, this time, feet first. I followed.

Everybody was there except Melanie and Jared, they had to finish up in the corn fields; at least, that's what they _said_. I shuddered. One thing about living in close quarters was the fact things aren't kept secret and people knew everything about you.

"So we finished the new room, Jeb. Is there anything else that needs doing?" Jamie asked Jeb.

"Well, some of the rooms in these caves need maintenance. You can move some of the rocks that have been mined out to make some walls"

"Sounds good, Rose?" He asked.

"Sounds good to me too."

That's what we did for the next few days. We used the old rocks as well as the dust to make thicker walls around the caves. We were even able to make some sliding doors for the rooms. We just made a narrow hole in the wall and cut the size of the door from some rock. We eventually went outside to get some rock. We were only allowed to go at night though.

Then the end of the week approached and I had to go on the raid with Wanda. Jamie, Ian, Melanie, Jared and Kyle came too. Sonny had learned to be more independent without Kyle, for a few days at a time.

"Right, we'll start on the outskirts of Phoenix. We haven't been around there for a while. After that we'll head for Yuma. Once we get everything we need, we head back." Jared said.

The trip was fairly quiet. We were in the back of the van with Wanda and Jared in the front. Everybody else sat in the middle. Wanda was driving and Jared was in charge of the raid. Jamie fell asleep soon enough; apparently he sleeps his best in a moving car and especially when he's bored. Finding nothing else to do, I lay my head on his shoulder and attempted to fall asleep. After a few minutes I could hear Melanie, Kyle and Ian's conversation switch subjects.

"So… I wonder how Jamie's doing with his girlfriend." Kyle slipped in. Melanie smacked his arm lightly.

"Very good by the looks of it" Ian said referring to my position. Melanie sighed.

"It's quite nice that Jamie's found somebody his age. A lot of the kids didn't survive." She said.

"I say they are very nice together." Wanda said, coming into to the conversation.

"I wonder how long it's going to take Jamie to make a move." Kyle said.

"Who says Jamie's going to make the first move? Sometimes girls can be very cunning." Melanie said. Kyle ignored this.

"Maybe during or before the party. I'm guessing he won't be able to put it off."

"No way. After the party, most don't have a first kiss during a party. And I don't think that things will that move.

"This sounds like a bet." Ian stated.

"I bet that he'll either kiss her at the party or before the party" Kyle announced.

"I bet that she'll kiss him after the party." Mel said.

"I say that he'll kiss her after the party as well" Ian said.

"Fine," Kyle said with a grunt. "Whoever losses has to do the night shift for an entire week. And winner get's dibs on the leftover alcohol at the party"

"Deal" Mel said.

"Done" Ian said spitting into his hand. Kyle did the same and shook hands with Ian. They then turned to Mel to shake her hand. She pulled her hands back.

"No way. I intend on keeping myself away from the common cold." They chuckled.

When the van stopped, Wanda and I went shopping. We filled the cart fairly full but not overflowing so that we didn't attract attention. Our first shopping trip we got things like soap, shampoo, dry food and canned food. We stopped by a couple stores in the town. The next town we bought clothes. Wanda dragged me to the mall to find some decent ones.

"Are we done yet?" I whined. We had only been in the store for fifteen minutes.

"No way, you are definitely going to get a good wardrobe whether you like it or not."

"Ugh." We went through the shops finding clothes my size and clothes for the other people back home.

"Okay, let's make this shopping trip interesting since you find it…um…not." She gave me a mischievous smile."Truth or dare?" She asked me.

Oh crap.

"Ugh" I picked up my pace, she matched it.

"I'll take that as truth," I sighed. Like I was going to get out of this. To be honest, I really didn't like shopping. Something about going all over a mall for clothes in enemy territory and trying on clothes isn't my idea of fun.

"How many guys have you dated before you came with us and were any of them serious?" I groaned inwardly.

"One and I thought it was serious but after a while, I figured it wasn't." Wanda thought about it for a bit. "Truth or dare?" I asked in order to change subject.

"Truth" I thought for a minute. Damn, it's hard to think of a deep dark secret from a soul. Oh well, settle for something trivial.

"Do you want a girl or a boy?" She giggled at that.

"I'm not sure. I would love to have a cute baby boy just like Ian but at the same time… I would love to have a baby girl that I would talk to and ask me about things." We went into another store to get some warmer clothes for the night.

"When I get older I'd like a girl, if I could. I had always wanted a baby sister growing up. I always wanted somebody to talk to or just to teach things to." I flipped through a couple outfits in the store. I pulled out an earthy-brown colored poncho with beads hanging off the ends. "What do you think?" I asked her.

"I think they'd be good. Plus, it compliments your hair." I got three different sizes of it. "You can have a child you know. Remember, you don't need to wear sunglasses" She murmured later. She said it vaguely so the shopkeeper wouldn't understand if she was eavesdropping.

"Oh right." Once we found the clothes we wanted, Wanda gave them to the keeper and she checked them out. It felt odd not having to pay for it.

"Come on, we'll continue shopping and our truth or dare tomorrow" We then carried our bags to the van from the mall. When we got to the van and slid open the door I found somebody missing.

"Chill, Jamie's gone to the bathroom. Don't worry he's got sunglasses" I relaxed and climbed into the van. Wanda got into the front seat.

"We'll find a motel on the outskirts of the town." Jared said.

"So…" Kyle started in a detached tone. "When are you going to kiss him?" he said while feigning a cough. Both Ian and Melanie smacked his arm. I blushed crimson.

***

We headed towards the front desk; Wanda, Ian, Melanie, Jared, Jamie and I. Kyle was going to sleep in the van apparently. He said that you could never be too careful. The rest were behind us wearing sunglasses while Wanda and I talked to the lady at the desk.

"Hello, could I have two double rooms and one room with two singles please." Wanda requested.

"I'm sorry but we only have three double rooms free. We get very busy on Friday nights." The lady said.

Wanda turned to me and asked me with her eyes. I faced the lady, "No that's fine. We'll take three doubles." I said with a smile.

She gave us three keys and motioned to our rooms. We took our suitcases and headed for our rooms. I walked with Jamie, we didn't say anything but he seemed shocked that I was fine with sharing.

Before we went into our rooms I heard Ian murmur something to Melanie. "Do you think we should have made that bet?" I stole a glance and saw Melanie shrug. All six of us went into our rooms.

"Wow." I said when I went in. It was an average room; on suite bathroom, T.V., mini-fridge. It wasn't spontaneous but it was very different than what I was used to.

"What?" Jamie asked.

"I haven't been in a motel room in three years." I said. He smiled.

We unpacked our clothes and got ourselves ready for bed. He wore an old T-shirt and a pair of shorts. I put on some pajama bottoms and a tank top. I briefly caught a stunned look on Jamie's face before he composed it.

"Are you fine with sharing a bed?" Jamie asked timidly. I lightly laughed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I trust you not to do anything."

I lay on my stomach on the bed facing the TV while Jamie was sat up. I could somewhat feel his eyes on me.

I heard some voices from the next room. It was Jared and Melanie.

"I wonder what Wanda was thinking. I mean; two hormonal teenagers who get along better than just friends, sharing a double bed in their own motel room, knowing that they are probably the last of people their age that are in the same country; How can you not get a little worried?" Jared said.

"I'm sure they won't do anything." Melanie stated.

'How would you know? I was once a hormonal teenage boy. It didn't go down very well with keeping myself focused in history class." Jared challenged.

"First of all, since when does anybody always stay focused in history class? Second of all, Jamie wouldn't want to do anything to offend her; he likes her too much for that. And third of all, Rose seems to keep to herself and doesn't 'see' everything despite her eyesight."

The conversation faded to a different subject that I didn't really want to know about. I was surprised that people were really that worried about us. I decided to lock it away for later and focus on the movie.

I was halfway through the movie when I yawned.

"Okay, this movie officially sucks. Could it get any cornier? I mean, where's the action?" I turned to him.

He was already staring at me. He shook his head when I met his eyes.

"I know. The movies now are horrible. Anyway, we better turn in for the night." He went under the covers. I went to grab the remote to turn off the TV. I then crawled into bed next to him.

At first we stayed some distance from each other. He then fell asleep. I couldn't help getting closer, he was so warm. And it was a cold night. I kept on trying to close my eyes and fall asleep but I couldn't. I always felt some sort of spark because of the fact I was near him. It kept on drawing me closer. I ended up being inched from him. I fell asleep immediately.

***

I awoke when I heard Jamie's voice. I also noted that it was very warm.

"Rose?" he murmured.

"Jamie?" I asked in a very sleepy voice.

"Um…Rose….I think we need to get up. And…um, I guess we definitely moved around when we slept."

My brow furrowed. I examined my position. I found myself across his chest when I awoke. I could feel his hand lightly on my lower back. I could hear Jamie's heart.

"Oh" I suddenly became very alert. I started untangling myself. I felt his hand on my back tighten as if to hold me closer for a brief second but then went limp. I quickly got out of the bed to grab a set of clothes and jump in the bathroom before my blush covers up my entire face. I couldn't help smiling a little at the fact Jamie actually had his arm around me when I slept.

We both got packed without saying much to each other. Once we got out our room we had blushes on both of our cheeks.

Nobody said anything but gave us suspicious looks.

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**Hope you liked it. Cause I have some bad news that you're not going to want to hear:**

**I'm thinking of stopping on this story for a bit. Chill, I'm not going to drop it forever. I know, this annoys me too but I really want to work on my other stories. They'll probably be coming out in less than a week's time. They'll be full-length stories and will need several chapters to come. I'll probabl;y continue this in a couple weeks and promise you guys that this will be updated before the end of May.**

**Again, really sorry. I hope this doesn't put you off on your reviews because every single one counts to me. **

**-Star of the Sky**


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